It's easy to think of bands like the Eagles and Crosby, Stills & Nash when one first hears the sweet harmonies of the rising Nashville group One Flew South.

Actually, though, a song by lesser-known 1970's hit-makers Firefall may have played the biggest part in One Flew South's story.

From an airport in Providence, R.I, Eddie Bush, who together with Royal Reed and Chris Roberts comprises One Flew South, recalled their first attempts to bring their voices together.

"We sang for the first time at Chris' house," Bush said. "It was tough to find something we could sing together. And then we finally landed on song that I had been teaching one of my students, 'Just Remember I Love You' by Firefall. When we hit the blend I started going nuts. I could not believe how our voices sounded together."

Those close vibrant harmonies run throughout the trio's recently-released debut disc on Decca, "Last of the Good Guys." And while several country acts are fine harmonizers - Little Big Town immediately come to mind - few are basing their entire sound around the vocals in the fashion that One Flew South does.

"I don't know why more don't, because it's an American tradition," Bush said. "Especially this kind of harmony singing. This is interval singing and it's such a beautiful thing when you hear voices come together and make that kind of resonant chord ... often family members really sound great together but when you hear three completely separate voices that come together and make the kind of resonance that our three voices do, it definitely got my attention.

"Groups like the Beatles, Beach Boys, Poco, the Eagles, they're all really special and it's largely because of the great vocal harmonies," he noted. "A lot of people overlook the fact that the Beatles were such a great harmony group."

For the album, One Flew South has been teamed with some first-rate writers in Marcus Hummon, who's penned hits for the Dixie Chicks, Tim McGraw, Rascal Flatts and others, as well as J.D. Souther (best known for crafting Eagles' classics including "Best of My Love" and "Heartache Tonight"). Souther co-wrote several of this album's best tracks, notably the shimmering standout "She's a Gift."

"I was having to pinch myself the entire time we were working together," said Bush of his writing collaboration with Souther. "'She's a Gift' is a very special song that started at my dinner table. I was writing about my wife. She's searching for something in her life that is her calling. I watch her go through this and she is such a wonderful person. She's a gift to everyone around her, she has a radiant smile and is just a wonderful individual. I wrote it and it was a very personal thing, but I just felt like it was not quite where I needed it to be.

"I called J.D. and said 'I've got this song idea, would like you listen to it and see what you think?' Of course J.D. took it to a completely new level through the verses he wrote. It's now a universal song that could be about your mother, your sister, your girlfriend, whatever. J.D. is friggin' brilliant."

Bush had a lengthy career as a solo artist before joining One Flew South, and had recorded more than a half-dozen independent albums. A guitar hero in his home state of South Carolina, he had also spent a lot of years on the road, opening for rockers including Cheap Trick, Sammy Hagar and most memorably Ted Nugent.

"The first few times I played with Ted it was a full band experience," Bush said. "It was my first time getting a huge encore in front of a major act. But I also had a series of shows with Ted where I ended up opening for him as a solo acoustic act. I thought they were absolutely insane to ask me to do that. All I could think of were the high levels of testosterone that float through the Ted Nugent audience. I was just picturing this awful experience. But in this business you just say 'Yes.' I did and it got his attention. The next thing I knew Ted was singing my praises."

One Flew South will be celebrating their third anniversary this summer and Bush, Reed and Roberts each put plenty of time into their careers before being brought together thanks to Hummon. The album is off to a solid start as is the lead single "My Kind of Beautiful." The trio is currently in planning plenty of roadwork in the months ahead.

"We're gonna be on the road a long time," Bush said. "We only get one shot at this. The record just came out and we're really excited now, but there's heavyweight competition. It's easy to be homesick but you need to be hungry to continue touring because that's the way people are going to know about the group ... The sky's the limit - we're excited, we're willing to work hard and trying to let everyone know we are willing to work hard."